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No. 608,996. Patented Aug. 9, I898.

F.A. WORDEN.

MUSICAL TOY.

(Application filed July 1, 1897.)

(No Model.)

FRANK A. W'ORDEN, OF YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN.

MUSICAL ToY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 608,996, dated August 9, 1898.

Applieation filed July 1, 1897. Serial No. 643,082. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK A. l/VORDEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ypsilanti, in the county of lrVashtenaw and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Musical Toys, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to musical toys; andit consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts and combinations thereof hereinafter fully described, and particularly set forth in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my toy. Fig. 2 is a plan View thereof, and Fig. 3 is a plan of a modified construction.

A is a rotary I show as the disk of a top having the central spindle B. Upon the face of this disk are arranged a series of rows of pins, notches, or vibrator-points O C 0 &c., arranged concentrically around the spindle B.

D is a reed or diaphragm secured to a suit-' able handle, which I have shown in Fig. 1 as a cone or funnel E.

Fis a handle for holding the spindle in spinning the top, and G is the string which may be used for spinning it.

In practice, the top being set in motion, the operator takes the reed D and holds it inthe path of one of the rows of pins or notches, which will cause it to vibrate and produce a musical tone the pitch of which is determined by the number of pins or notches in the row and the speed at which they are traveling.

By properly proportioning the number of pins in the different rows any desired combination of musical sounds may be produced, which will always sustain to each other the same relative pitch, although their absolute pitch will be determined by the speed of the top. Thus the rows may be so arranged as to produce the separate notes of the diatonic or chromatic musical scale, and the operator by shifting the position of the reed from one row to another may play any simple tune.

head, which in Figs. 1 and 2.

In Fig. 3 I show a cylindrical head provided with a series of rows of pins or HOllOl16S,Wl1lGll when set in motion may be used in the same manner as the top, the reed being moved by the player from one row to the other.

Although I have shown and described my invention asa-toy, I do not wish to be limited thereby, as it is obvious that an instrument may be constructed on this principle which will be useful for many purposes, such as for illustrating the relation which different musical sounds sustain to each other and other experiments in acoustics.

The essential difference between my instrument and most musical instruments is that the character or pitch of sound produced is not determined by the reed or diaphragm, but bythe number and the relation of the pins or notches which strike against and set it in vibration. Each row forms, in effect, an interrupted path for the reed, which is vibrated as it strikes each of the interruptions.

What I claim as my invention is- 1.- In a musical toy, the combination with a spinning-top having on the upper surface thereof a series of concentric rows of predeterminedlypositioned interruptions uniformly spaced in each row and relatively varying in different rows, of a vibrating reed adapted to be brought into the path of any of said rows of interruptions.

' 2. Inamusical toy, a spinning-top provided on the top thereofwith a series of concentric rows of predeterminedly-positioned projections uniformly spaced in each row and relatively varying in the different rows, for the purpose set forth.

3. A spinningtop, provided on the top thereof with a series of concentric rows of predeterminedlypositionedinterruptions spaced apart. 1

In testimony whereof I a'ffix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK A. WORDEN.

Witnesses:

FRANK WHITMAN, T. J. VAN RIFER. 

